lady of the lake
by scribe de la vie
Summary: Left broken by a horrible tragedy, Ellie is one of the only heroes left to defend Olympus after Percy disappears. My take on what happens at camp when Percy, Jason, and eventually Annabeth are off being heroes. Heroes of Olympus compliant
1. Chapter 1

Please bear with this story, it won't have a lot of Percy Jackson themes in the beginning, but I want to make a real character first. I hope you like it. 'Scribe de la Vie'

_My name is Elaine. Ellie for short if you like. Do you know me? No? I think you do. Listen to the wind. Let it flow through your mind. You will hear my voice calling you. Stop the world. Let your heart slow. Listen to the world around you. Listen to the people you love. The people you hate. Hear their hearts all beat in time for one moment. Let their song flow into your body like a thousand pulses of energy. Unbridled and passionate fury. Feel the beat carry your own heart away. Become a part of the music surrounding you. But notice, no one can hear this but you. Well… with a few exceptions. All of the world will beat as one for one moment. Hear their beats spell something out._**Elaine du Lac**_. How do you think the world got to this moment? Was it easy? No way. It was heartbreaking and soul wrenching… but you know what? I've gotten ahead of myself… this is probably too deep for_**you**_**.**__You would never understand? Or would you? Well, I'll make it easy for you. It all started like every twisted nightmare. With a promise of a beautiful dream…_

Ellie POV

_I was in a beautiful meadow. I could feel the breeze carry up my hair to tickle my cheek. The meadow was filled with daisies, and wildflowers and they pulsed in time, yet not in time… they carried the perfect melody of colors, but it was filled with perfect dissonance. I could hear the birds chirping and singing a beautiful harmony. I could hear some far off voice calling my name, the way a lover would._

_I felt so much happiness in one moment that I almost didn't notice the huge shift in the earth below me, opening up a huge abysmal trench, boring deep into the earth, like some once dormant, now active volcano, meant to swallow me up. I cried out as I began to fall. I gripped the sides of the chasm, those once beautiful flowers, now coated with acid stinging my hands as I touched them. As I clawed the earth, it became a sea of piercing scorpions, and finally I fell into the lava below, relishing in the sweet relief I thought I might feel in death._

_Suddenly, by miracle or cruelty, of which I wasn't sure, some benevolent god plucked me out of the scorching flames, only to transform into a demon, and throw me down with such force that I had never felt before, I cried out, and as I was about to reach the once hot, now excruciation magma, I was surprised to find myself in my bed._

"GET UP YOU UNGRATEFULL BRAT!" Ali, my foster sister screamed, "YOU'RE GOING TO MISS SCHOOL! IF YOU'RE LATE ONE MORE TIME, I'M GOING TO GET GROUNDED, AND IT'S NOT MY FAULT IF YOU'RE TOO LAZY TO GET UP!"

I sat there for a while listening to her scream. I couldn't take it anymore, I finally yelled back "YOU KNOW WHAT? IT'S NOT MY FAULT IF YOU'RE GETTING INTO TROUBLE ALL OF THE TIME BECAUSE OF THAT IDIOT STONER BOYFRIEND! AND IT'S CERTAINLY NOT MY FAULT IF YOU'VE LOST YOUR SENSE OF RATIONALITY FROM SMOKING SO MUCH WEED!" I paused for a moment, realizing that I had gone too far, and Ali was crying. She had gone for the knife, and I had to stop her. I was too late. She had already dug a large portion of the knife into her flesh.

"ERIN CALL 911," I screamed "WE NEED AN AMBULANCE!" I tried to get the knife away from her and ended up getting stabbed and slashed at. Ali is the worst loose cannon I knew. She would lose her temper if you even slightly insulted her. She had so many problems, I should have let her be angry. But I had to run my big mouth. I should have thought before I said anything. I should have done what she said, but I had to be so stubborn. I knew what I was doing. I was responsible for what had happened. So I knew that I had to get the knife away from her. She kept slashing at me, trying to get me away. And every time she moved she would agitate the wounds on her wrist. She had lost so much blood, I was scared for her. I could see it gushing from her wrist like some beautiful waterfall of black. I backed away from her, trying to calm her down.

She realized that I had moved, and she smiled. I smiled back reassuringly. Already so pale, she grinned at me and mouthed 'Goodbye'. I realized what she was thinking, and I cried out and lunged at her, only for her to back away and almost fall. I should have just stopped her, without thinking about myself before, but it was too late. And I guess I couldn't. She reached out a second later and dug the knife deep into her stomach. I grimaced and reached out and grabbed the knife. But she had enough strength to hold on to the knife. She twisted the blade and fell. I got the knife away from her lifeless body, with her face frozen in time, like the world had immortalized her that way. My eyes filled with a kind of sooty darkness, covering the whole world like a screen, making it dim and gloomy, and empty of all of the life that I had once known.

She looked… sad, I starred at her for a while and just remembered her. I guess I must have been smiling. The world had stopped for me for one minute, to be with her. I looked up from her lifeless frame just as the paramedics entered the room. I tried to explain. It wasn't me. She did it. But they didn't listen. After the paramedics collected her body, the police came into the room. They got some samples of her blood from the carpet, the knife, and well… me.

As I was dragged away from the house in handcuffs, I felt the accusing stares of my foster family. The sad disappointed look on Erin's face was almost too much for me. I could feel him asking me, did you do it? Why? How could I have helped you? When did you go wrong? I couldn't take it. I broke down from his intense gaze and I had to be carried to the squad car. I felt the evil, curious stares of the neighbors boring into me. I could almost feel them.

They would say "'I always knew that she was a bad seed.' 'she always did look brooding and violent.' 'I can't believe my door was unlocked. That could have been me!' I hated them. I hated everyone, for assuming the worst of me. For not even thinking about what had _happened_ to me.

I was alone. I was numb. I couldn't talk. I couldn't feel. The police asked questions. I couldn't answer. I finally answered one question. Choked up with sobs. The police asked whose fault it was. I answered that…. "It was me. I made her do it."

I didn't have the strength to explain that I had only said the word's that had set her off. That in fact she had committed suicide. So that's why I ended up there. I would start living In 'The Willow Academy for Criminally Troubled Girls'. That day, I lost the two most important things in my life. My two best friends, Erin and Ali, and my freedom. Ali, I had lost her, but I could feel her near me. Carrying me, and helping me. Letting me cry, Teaching me to feel again, and Letting me live. For months I was alone. But I was never lonely. I felt her with me. She was my shield, she would separate me from the coldness of the world. I could feel her presence in my words, in my actions, and in my thoughts.

Finally I was deemed healthy enough to return to the foster system. After two years in the correctional facility, I was now sixteen. I was going into sophomore year, and I had transferred to the Indiana foster district. So that I was in a less provocative area, they put me in this small little town called Connersville. It was so small that you could walk anywhere you wanted from any part of town.

My new family consisted of a boy named Zach, my age, Ashlynn, a freshman, and Autumn, also a sophomore. Zach had this brooding look in his eyes, as if daring you to challenge him, and lose. Ashlynn, she was cynical and pessimistic… but you could see a glimmer of hope in her eyes. She didn't know it existed. But it shined so bright in her soul. And Autumn, she was sweet, with a ting of regret to everything that she did. And then, there were the foster parents. Alan, a slightly neurotic foster father, was fairly laid back. He held a job as a preacher in a church on central. And Kate, was a sweet woman, who would listen to your problems and give you amazing advice. She seemed to understand your problems like they were her own.

When I got there, I immediately felt at home. They accepted me as one of their own. They let me in on their personal inside jokes. Told me stories, of how life should be, and inspired me. I found my talents, my strengths, and weaknesses there.

I became profoundly passionate about music. It calmed me and filled me with soul, but not my own. I was overwhelmed and filled with the spirit of Ali. I opened my mouth and our combined souls fell out. Pouring out just as that beautiful black waterfall had. I broke down, crying, filled with so much joy, pain and sorrow, that I wasn't myself anymore. I was transported to that meadow. I saw Ali's immortalized face, smiling down on me, filling me with forgiveness and hope. I could see now. The world had cleared, and become so bright, and filled with contrast that I was blinded by the beauty of it all. I felt my hatred for the world being lifted, and as Ali took her last leave of me, she smiled, and I was brought back down.

I opened my eyes and saw the world clearly for what it was. I thought I would share my song with you, well, the lyrics at least…

Verse 1:

I, I am here, inside your darkest hour

I am alone in your mind, lost in your heart.

Feel you in me, feel my gaze upon you

Live, in my world, for one fraction of a minute?

Chorus:

Listen to your heart,

It's breaking.

Feel the war it's fighting,

For it's life.

Losing all control,

Forced to be alone.

A war without allies,

in its home.

Verse 2:

Find me, find my help

Listen to my words. They come to aid your heart.

Against your mind, blind and unaware,

The fight it caused, To still even the air.

Bridge:

You are not alone. Don't reject the ones you love.

Listen to me, feel the love I have for you

Make it right, this crime against love.

Listen to the world, it's calling you.

(chorus)

Be free of you, be free of the world.

Live.

A/N: I don't own the Percy Jackson series, but I do own all of my original characters. I haven't gotten to very much of the main plot, or the mythology yet, but I wanted you to get to know Ellie first. If I get any positive reviews, I'll write more! And the more reviews I get, the harder I'll work on it for you guys.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! I would really appreciate some reviews soon! I know this story has bad publicity, but I figure the more words and chapters, the more often this will show up in your searches. Enjoy.

Ellie POV

After a long day of school, I finished my homework, got my chores done, and decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. I was sitting in my room, attempting a few new instruments, and apparently I was making a lot of noise. And when I say a lot of noise, well my internal noise scale is a little skewed. I hear Zach thundering down the stairs, and yet I still don't stop playing. I stop playing for a second, and Zach takes this opportunity to bang on my door with more strength than I thought possible. He barges in and stares at me. He starts to walk over to me… no, walk isn't the right word. He glided over to me, and put his face right up in front of mine, challenging me to a stare-off. Then he puts a finger to my lips and whispers "Be quiet, please," and pulled his face away from mine. He stares at me for a moment longer, and I won't say anything because I know I must be as red as a tomato, and if I did say something, it would be a moan or a squeak. He turned away from me and glided out of the room, as gracefully as he had entered. I take this time of not being in his presence to stare after him. I feel so flustered and extremely confused, but since I don't have much of a choice I just go back to my music, trying to be a little quieter.

Later, when Kate called us all to dinner, I didn't quite know what to expect. As per tradition we were all asked how the day had gone, and we all answered, albeit reluctantly. Ashlynn had a test (we all know she aced it), Autumn made some new friends (if I didn't like her so much I'd have to hate her for how likeable she was), Zach shrugged them off and said that nothing happened today, but he was looking at me when he said it. Conversation ended for a while and then they realized that they had skipped me, and god forbid they don't hear how my day went. As much as I protested, my efforts were completely futile. I couldn't say no to their incessant stares and questions. So I answered "Well, I guess it was ok…. Nothing really eventful happened except, well… never mind." Suddenly everyone at the table was staring at me.

Kate said "Look at her, she's blushing!"

Autumn asked "What happened?"

Ashlynn practically yelled "Tell us!" And the only person who didn't talk was Zach, who kept flashing his smirk and staring at me, like he knew something the rest didn't. I got up from the table and stormed off to my room.

I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling for a while, listening to my iPod with ear buds. I guess I didn't hear them come upstairs, but before I could even look up, I was ambushed by my two foster sisters. They were such gossip mongers.

Ashlynn said "Ok, you don't have to tell us, but please?"

"Come on!" Autumn whined.

"NO! THERE IS NO WAY I'M TELLING YOU GUYS!" I shouted.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" they chorused

"Fine. There's this guy…." I said.

"Who?",

"Is he cute?",

"Does he like you?",

"Is he popular?",

"What does he look like?"

What was I supposed to say when I was bombarded with all of these questions? I decided to answer all of their questions, but I can't tell them who it is.

I begin by saying, "I'm not telling you guys who he is, but he is very cute, he might like me but I don't know. He's more fringe than popular. He's got this intense brooding Emo quality."

Ashlynn mused to herself "Well there are only a few people that fit that description… it could be Brayton, Ryan, or…. NO!" she gasped. Autumn, completely oblivious to the thought Ashlynn had, looked between me and Ashlynn. Ashlynn had her jaw on the floor and I was tomato red again. Finally Ashlynn couldn't take it anymore and blurted out "She likes Zach!" still tomato red I glared at Ashlynn, and soon Autumns jaw ad taken residence on the floor. They both stared incredulously at me, and all I could do was stammer "n-n-no I don't!" almost in unison they smiled. They had an Idea. A horrible awful Idea.

I poked my finger at both of them, and ordered "Promise! You're not allowed to tell!"

They agreed. We spent hours over analyzing all of the things that had gone down with me and Zach. Any moment we were even in the same room. We eventually ran out of things to say.

The Ashlynn walked out of the room and said, "Come on. We're going."

I looked at her and asked "Where?"

She gave me a smirk, put on her sunglasses and looked over the lenses. "The beach of course!"

We all packed up the essentials and Me, Autumn, Ashlynn, and Zach were on our way to the beach. I couldn't believe what they had put me in. I was wearing the skimpiest bikini I had ever seen. Well… scratch that. It definitely wasn't the skimpiest I had ever seen, but it was definitely the skimpiest I had ever put on. It only covered the essentials, and I was used to wearing one pieces and two pieces that covered all of my torso. It was Zach's car, so he drove. Before I could stop them, Autumn and Ash had filled up the back seat. I shot them a glare and hopped in, forced to ride shotgun. He didn't touch me or anything, but I swear, every time I looked at him, he was looking at me. I'm really hoping that I'm not blushing too much, but I know that that's a lost cause.

I'm so glad that it's only the beginning of the school year, because even though it's like 6:30 p.m. it's bright and sunny with no sign of setting. Too bad that's the only good news. Almost as if it was confined to the shore, there was a storm settling in, and the waves were chop and wild like they never had been before. This looked similar to one of those paintings of sea monsters on old maps. I took a second look and realized that in the dark green water there was something bright blue slithering around. It was the size of a train! I rubbed my eyes and looked again. There it was. I pointed out the window and said in wonder "look!"

The girls looked out the window and said "Yeah, it sure is beautiful." I looked at her curiously, and then looked back at the sea. It was calm and beautiful with several calm green waves cresting in the distance, without a cloud in the sky. There's something very wrong with this. If I look out in the sea, I can still see a faint bright blue, and begin to shiver through my cover up. I decide to ignore it and chalk it up to left over psychosis from ally. I shouldn't have done that.

As we make it to the beach the girls start sunbathing, and Zach gets out his surf board. I shyly look around to see I anyone is looking and peel of my dress. I see several teens gawking at me, and I'm sure that my normal while bright green eyes are neon now. I turn to Autumn and Ash and hiss "What are they staring at?"

They look at each other and giggle. Autumn says "You're a babe. Get used to it!"

I said "You're on crack, and not the good kind!" I've always had a problem with compliments. I feel like I don't deserve them. So I think about it. I have long black hair, that's really wavy, and the wind is going crazy with it. I'm sure it's obscuring my body. I dive into the sea, intent on getting out of eyesight. As I come up, I'm at neck depth in the water. And even though I have water all over me, it in no way covers it from view. So as I'm flushing the salt water from my eyes through rapid blinking, I try to see in my mind some of the views above and underwater. When I can see again, one thing is very clear. Zach is right in front of me, bent down so that we are at equal eye level. He's looking at me strangely. I couldn't place it then, but I know it's the look of a man completely content. One that likes what he sees. I duck down just in time to avoid the wave crashing over us. I swim to a shallower depth where most of my torso is above water. Zach stumbles over sputtering and blinking. Without thinking about it, I begin to laugh. A real laugh so genuine and unexpected, I think I cried a little bit.

He walked over to me and asked "You think this is funny?" very seriously. I stopped laughing long enough to gasp out a "Yes" filled with laughter, but devoid of oxygen. He grinned at me and picked me up saying "I'll show you funny!" and despite my squealing and protests, he dunks me into the water, and his face is so close to mine that I just close the distance and pull him into a deep underwater kiss.

It seemed like I could have gone on forever, but he quickly pulled away towards the surface gasping 'air!' I came up laughing and I said "You have some pretty crappy breath support!"

"Well we can't all have singer's lungs or your capacity to swim all day and not once come up for air!" he teased

"Well then, I guess I'm just better than the rest of you!" I shot back, trying to play along.

He pulled me close and whispered "You really are." He was smiling and he leaned down and kissed me sweetly, with little passion. He looked me in the eyes and saw that I wanted more. He pulled his mouth down on mine in a earth shattering kiss. I could feel it in every cell of my being. It was like each part of me was electrified and made completely magnetically attached to him. He broke the kiss and took my hand and we walked down the beach that way with Ash and Autumn staring after us with grins on their suntanned faces.

Zach's POV

She is so amazing. Why can't she see that? If only she could really see herself. We've been dating for a few weeks and are about to have been dating for a month. It was amazing. Four whole weeks of happiness. I know I don't deserve her, but really, no one does. I got home before her today. She had a meeting with a teacher after school or something. I went into my room and spaced out for a while I guess. I remember being startled into alertness when a girl, probably one of ash's friends walked in, in just her underwear. I think she was looking for the bathroom, but then I realized it was crazy Kelly, my ex. She had gone through one of her total makeovers. I could barely recognize her, and before I could say anything she pounced on me, and started making out with me. I tried to push her away, but the damage had been done. I heard Ellie gasp and run from the hallway. I toss Kelly off, and run after Ellie. She's not in the house, so I run outside, and barely see her Junker pull out of the driveway and even though I waited it never came back.

Ellie POV

Oh my god, he cheated on me. I can't believe it. I walked up to his room and saw some random girl straddling him and passionately making out with him. I run. As a foster kid, forever afraid of rejection, I carry all of my money on me and a lot of clothes in my car. I've been saving up money. I have/had a job. I have a couple thousand. Enough to get me where I need to go. I drive up the coast passing almost every beach, none of them appealing to me. I stop somewhere in jersey I think. I pull into a health food store with a café attached to it. I always turn heads, what with my hair, and eyes. I go up to the counter and see this college kid that's kind of cute. He has curly hair, a baseball cap and a name tag that says 'Grover'. Weird name. I've never heard one like it. As I get to the counter he finally looks up and just stares at me. I let him zone out for a minute before I say "Are You just going to stand there, or are you going to take my order?" he snaps out of it and gets me my coffee and mutters something about a 'pale percy'. At that point I try to keep my distance, but I submit to sitting in the coffee shop for as long as possible. When it closes, I am engrossed in one of my favorite novels, _Les Misérables._ I finally look up and see him sitting across from me, just staring. So I walk up to him and ask "Can I help you?" he considers this for a moment.

He nods his head and says "yes". I'm about to ask him how and he takes of his hat. He quickly says "Please don't freak out!" Underneath are two fake brown horns. You know, like the ones they use during Halloween.

I laugh at him and ask "Are you kidding?" he solemnly shakes his head. He says, "feel them". So I do. I'm horrified to find that they really are a part of his head, and they almost match the color of his hair. I stifle a scream and back away.

He chuckles grimly. "I thought so. You look so much like him, there had to be some kind of a relation!"

I look at him like….. well like he sprouted horns, and I ask him, "What are you?"

He looks at me and smiles sadly. "I'll tell you later. You really don't need to know now. Will you come with me? There's something… someone I have to show you. You'll have to trust me. I would never hurt you, but I can't tell you what's going on."

I'm so freaked out. "What is this? A gentle attempt at kidnapping?"

He smiles like I've said a joke. "I just need to take you somewhere. You can drive if it will make you feel more comfortable."

I nod my head yes because this is so weird, it must be real. And there's no way I could ever dream this.

We head over to my car and get in. We make polite conversation the whole way, and he gives me directions. We're going to some place in long island apparently. We drive along, passing several beaches all in a horrible raging storm. He starts muttering to himself about 'not again' and 'gods! Why can't you be more original!" I was getting severely confused. We drove into long island and get close to the destination, and Grover has all but bitten off his fingernails. We were close to the shore and I could see something bright blue moving around. I snap Grover out of it, and pull over. I point the creature out to him, and say "I've seen that before! Is it a sea monster?"

He nods and says " It is Ketos, the wrath of Poseidon. A huge sea serpent. Oddly enough it isn't under the jurisdiction of Poseidon, it turned in the war."

"What war? And why have I seen it all day?"

"Elaine, you have to fight it." He says. "I brought something that might help you kill it. It's not much, but it won't attack you if you're mortal, and you should be able to defeat it if you are who I think you are." He says grimly. He hands me a sword out of his bag. The sword is huge. Much too big for the bag… there's something wrong with all of this. I'm so glad my recreational activity allowed us to learn to fence in the institution… weird right? I'm starting to think that things that aren't weird are out of the ordinary. I look at the blade. It is long flat and sharp, with an angled end so sharp I think I could cut the air with it. I look at the hilt. Engraved in gold is the name: _Crocea Mors_. I take this beautiful weapon and dive into the surf.

A.N. I broke off from the original non pjo storyline here, and I'm going to try to be original, with as few book repeats as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. I got a few views lately, but I would appreciate a review or two just to see if anyone is reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan's stories or any of his characters.

Grover's POV

So here I am, finished with the war, and completely retired. I don't really have to do anything. I'm Grover, a newly appointed lord of the wild. My only responsibilities are to try to preserve nature, and find demigods. But I'm basically retired. I'm more of a CEO than a foot soldier. But I can't stand just staying in camp half-blood. I grew up thinking that I was meant to work for my whole life. And I enjoy it. So, even though I'm almost 35, I have to keep working to feel fulfilled. And believe me, I don't look 35. I look about eighteen, nineteen. You see, that's the thing about me. I'm not exactly what one might call human. I'm a satyr. Half man, half goat, and no, I know I look like it might be a bottom half donkey. I'm not. Don't even get me started on that. But that's irrelevant.

So anyway, I opened a whole food store that has a café and a coffee shop tacked on inside – I made it as a kind of haven for demigods. It has anti monster wards, and it does attract a lot of mortals, but I find some demigods this way – and while I'm working at the coffee counter I get distracted and start twiddling my thumbs. Cut me some slack! We don't have a ton of customers.

I look up and I see this girl. She looks kind of emo, with black hair cut kind of like Haley Williams'. And she has these bright green eyes that appear to glow. And not like they're a light bulb or anything, but they radiate a kind of power. I haven't seen anything like that in a while. Honestly I can't place them. I stare at her really hard and I realize I've only seen eyes like that once. Percy. I'm staring at her so hard I think I might be drooling. Only then I realize, even if she is special, she's a customer, and she might think it's weird if I stare at her all day. So I take her order and get her coffee. She takes it and curls up in the bookstore section with a book and stays for hours.

Why me? I'm retired. I don't need to do any of this. And I'm sure that if there wasn't a ward around the shop, it would be swarmed with monsters. There wasn't enough time to call a guide to take her back to camp. Plus all of my satyrs were busy finding demigods, and improving the environment. I couldn't spare even one, because all of my satyrs were all already doing multiple jobs at once. I'd have to guide her. I leave one of my part time workers at the counter and go back to the weapons vault.

There were weapons from almost every century, and every country. I go through them and look at the swords appraisingly. This one changes shape. This one glows. This one could cut through solid steel. This one was blessed by Athena. This one was cursed, and so it went on.

I settled on a gladius that was named the yellow death. This one was a relic from Rome. It was used by Julius Ceasar. It had a gold hilt, and it was engraved with its latin name. Crocea Mors. It was said that the blade had always killed its victims, and never missed its target. Julius Ceasar had lost it in the body of a demigod that fled to the territory of England. The man lived for 15 days after his initial stab wound. He passed it on to his children, rather than taking it with him to the grave. When the Olympians were in Britain, one of his descendants was a demigod. When the demigod died it was given to the surplus weapon supply.

I got a bag that had been magically reinforced by Hecate to conceal the size of its' contents and the fabric was made to be strong enough not to be sliced by the sword. I set the bag aside behind the counter and worked for the rest of my shift.

Since it _is_ my shop, I closed up early and go over to talk to her. I ring the bell for closing and I guess she wants to finish her chapter so she takes a moment. I sit down in an armchair facing her. She closes the book and looks up. She seems to recognize me, and asks "Can I help you?" I think about that for a while. Obviously if she's not a demigod, if she can't see through the mist this isn't a problem. But if she is, I don't want to expose her to her heritage if she hasn't figured it out already.

I want to take this chance so I nod and say "yes." Before I can talk myself out of it, I take of my hat. I blurt out before she can react "Please don't freak out!" She looks surprised for a second, and then starts to laugh.

Still laughing, she asks "Are you kidding?" So she can see them, but she doesn't know her heritage. Maybe she can only see through the mist, but she smells like a demigod. She doesn't have the scent of any godly parent I know, but it smells really powerful, almost as powerful as percy's actually. This only intensifies my curiosity of her origin.

I look up and shake my head because this only makes matters worse. I tell her "Feel them." So she walks up to me and starts feeling my horns. And then she tries to pull on them. They don't come off. She looks like she's choking, and whimpers. Her face looks like some of medusa's victims. I mean to exhale, but it comes out as a dark laugh. "I thought so. You look so much like him, there had to be some kind of relation!" Even though she doesn't smell like Percy, I know some demigod siblings don't share the same scent. And I'm by no means perfect.

She still looks scared and she asks me, "What are you?" I feel like laughing and crying at the same time. But I don't have time for that.

"I'll tell you later. You really don't need to know now. Will you come with me? There's something… someone I have to show you. You'll have to trust me. I would never hurt you, but I can't tell you what's going on." I got behind the counter and retrieved the sword I had set aside earlier. I can't remember if it was meant or someone, but it radiated the same kind of power that she did. And before you start complaining about having weapons in a coffee shop, this is a coffee shop meant for half-bloods.

_There's nothing that Grover can tell you here that Elaine hasn't already. Let's jump ahead a bit?_

So we've made it to Long Island and we're driving along the sea side on our way to camp half-blood. This storm is really raging. It looks like the sky is trying to swallow up the sea, and the sea is sending waves up so high and so far, that it seems like it is retaliating and fighting back. This is not good. I have no idea what to do. I'm about to try to give Elaine some advice, but she doesn't look like she's surprised at the current weather conditions at all. She pulled over and I start muttering to myself about how the gods and the monsters need to get more original, because what demigod hasn't been ambushed upon their arrival to camp? She gets my attention and points to the sea. "I've seen that before! Is it a sea monster?"

I don't know much about sea monsters, but I've spent enough time with Annabeth that I know this one. It was one of Poseidon's greatest treasures. He used to use it to take punishment out on his enemies. "It is Ketos, the wrath of Poseidon. A huge sea serpent. Oddly enough it isn't under the jurisdiction of Poseidon, it turned in the war." It was one of the few sea serpents that hadn't faced retribution, because it had been more passive, not picking sides.

"What war? And why have I seen it all day?" Why did I have to mention the war? Of course she doesn't know about it. I don't know whether or not to be worried. If she doesn't confront the monster soon, it might try to come ashore. And of course this monster must have been following her. She must really radiate power to appeal to this serpent, who tended to spend his time in the depths of the ocean. And more than likely it had known about her for a very long time, because of her location by the sea. So we had led it to camp.

"Elaine, you have to fight it. I brought something that might help you kill it. It's not much, but it won't attack you if you're mortal, and you should be able to defeat it if you are who I think you are" I didn't know what the circumstances of her entering camp half blood might be, but I brought a sword just in case she would have to fight. This blade is special. I don't know how, but I feel like it fits her. She dives into the water and I pray she comes back.

Ellie POV

As soon as I'm under I realize why I'm so good at holding my breath. I'm not holding my breath at all. In fact, I'm breathing as well as I would in the air. I swim as well as I can with my light, but large sword. I'm going to have to do something about the size.

As I swim closer to the ominous blue creature, I see a conch shell. It had the visual quality of a pearl, and it was covered in brown crescents. It had a hole at the end, and I picked it up, not sure if it was intuition, or if I just wanted it, because it was pretty.

I continued to swim, and suddenly I remembered from my history lessons. The conch was a horn. It looked like the serpent was pretty far away. I looked at the conch, and marveled at it. I didn't know if it would work under water, but I wanted to try. So I put the tip to my lips and was about to blow, but then I stopped myself and kept swimming. It was swimming at me now. I could see it. It was gruesome and terrifying, with teeth the size of swords and hundreds of them. It had lightning speed and it looked like it would be on me in a second. And before I could raise my sword, or swim away, I had the conch at my lips and blew with all of my might. The serpent stopped and looked at me for a moment.

As quickly as it had come, it had swam away. I repeat. The giant terrifying sea serpent took one look at me and ran away. Puzzled, I swam back to shore and marveled at the sky, and water, which had almost calmed to a standstill. I walk back to the car with my sword and conch in hand. I get close enough to see that Grover is gaping at me. I get back in the car and he stares at me. He finally manages to ask " How did you do that? You were only in there for two minutes. I've never seen someone kill a monster of that size in under ten minutes!"

"I didn't kill him. He ran away." I say. I didn't know anything about what was going on, so I had just accepted it as the norm. I've learned to expect the unexpected and so far? That's the only thing I can accept.

He looks at me like I'm glowing. And I very well may be. "So you didn't fight?" He looked at me incredulously and his expression begged an answer.

"No, I just blew into this conch I found and he swam away. Is that strange?" He nodded at me gravely and looked away.

I began driving again and he kept giving me directions until I was in a small parking lot at the foot of a hill. We get out of the car and I'm horrified to see a copper dragon glowering at me with glowing yellow eyes from beneath a tree. He doesn't seem particularly offensive, but he's massive. He's sitting below a big lush pine tree. It has something glinting in its lower boughs. Is that gold? I brush it off as a trick of the light. I direct my attention back to the dragon. He raises his head, appraises me and lowers it, dismissing even my presence. Who does that? I mean, I think I deserve a little respect, but far be it for me to reprimand this dragon. If there's anyone that I don't want to pick a fight with, it's this guy. Grover notices my staring and nods to the dragon. "His name is Peleus. He guards the Golden Fleece." I'm so glad I actually tried to pay attention in history of the world.

Grover leads me through a beautiful valley filled with strawberries and edged with a lush green wood.

In the distance there's a huge farm house, all but obscuring the valley that lay further out. As we get closer, there is a man in a wheelchair on the porch. He nods hello to Grover and looks at me oddly, like I pique his interests. He follows us in, and begins to speak.

"My name is Chiron. I don't believe I've met you before. You look familiar. But then again, most of you have some features in common." He motion towards a man/goat hybrid and whispered in its' ear. It ran out of the room. "So where do you come from?"

"Florida. I was in the foster system there."

He then asked, "And do you know what you are? What your heritage is? Or your parents?"

"What I am? I was a foster kid. All I know is that my mom was a singer, and my dad was a deadbeat."

"You are special. I already know that you are ADHD and dyslexic." How did he know that? "You have a hard time staying in the same place, and you have had strange… _incidents_ in the past. Am I correct?" I paled. Yes, he was very correct.


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. I'm going to have some telepathic dialogue later, Percy is _Underlined Italics_ and Ellie is _**Bold Italics**_

Ellie POV

At that time a boy burst into the room and looked extremely worried. He ran over to Chiron and asked "What's wrong? Was someone attacked?"

Chiron laughed and shook his head. He glanced up at the boy with an almost parental affection. "You're always in such a hurry. Wartimes are over and past. You could relax a bit now!" He laughed it off.

The boy joked back to him, "Well this isn't the first time there's been an emergency in the big house!"

The laughed and joked for a while, but I was starting to get annoyed. Why was I being kept out of the loop? A glass of water next to me started to shake, and I though Grover was going to bight his hand off. I forgot my previous line of though and looked at it with curiosity.

Chiron and the boy hadn't noticed that little outburst of weird and Chiron said, "Percy, the real reason I brought you in was because I want you to meet someone. You have a striking…. Resemblance." The boy- Percy- turned around and looked at me, and for a moment we were both transfixed. I could see my features reflected in his. Our hair and eyes were almost the exact same shade. And although I had just met him and couldn't take my eyes off of him, some part of me told me to hate him. Completely irrational, I know. But I soon dismissed it as a mood swing or some other crap excuse.

He opened his mouth and the most confusing sentence I've ever heard spewed forth. "So I guess Poseidon came through on his promise, sister." he walked over and threw an arm around me, and I swear he crushed half of my shoulder. "Let me show you around" so he steered me to the door, and there was the strangest sight. The furthest valley that I had seen earlier now stood before me. and I was shocked to see its contents. A few hundred kids, all trying to kill each other.

I took a second look and realized that they weren't trying to kill each other, but in fact, they were sparring. I fenced. I knew about that. I relaxed considerably. Percy started showing me around. "So there's the archery station, the swordplay arena, Pegasus stables, the climbing wall – which frequently is covered in lava – the arts and crafts building, the volleyball court, and the cabins." This was a lot to take in.

I turned to him and asked, "What am I doing here? Chiron said that I was _special_ but you came in before he could tell me how. And all I know is that I'm stuck here and utterly confused!" By the time I finished, I was almost sobbing.

He took me to a bench and sat me down. "You're a half-blood, like me. We're the children of mortals and gods. We're heroes. And this is the camp where we're trained." I was so numb that these words actually calmed me, and I accepted these statements as truths. It was dinner time, and I was starving. Before I was able to tell Percy, a horn rang through the camp.

"Time for dinner," he said with a grin. He led me over to a pavilion by the sea, and we, along with at least a hundred other campers flocked to the tables.

On our way over, a girl stopped us. She was tall, athletic, and blond, nothing short of gorgeous. She walked over and kissed Percy. Almost possessively. She appraised me with steely grey eyes and looked a little shaken. "You look just like him! You must be a sibling." I frowned. Couldn't we just look similar? I mean, who's to say that I have to be his sister?

They break apart and she walks over to a table. Percy takes me up to see Chiron. But this one is much less wheel chaired, and has four hooves. Percy practically whines "Can she sit with me? there's almost no chance she isn't a child of Poseidon!"

Chiron shakes his head and chuckles. I get escorted over to a crowded table by a boy named Chris Rodriguez. A year older maybe. Everyone at this table has hawkish features and a glint in their eyes that makes me want to check my pockets. Dinner starts. The food is amazing. I'm about to take a bite, but Chris stops me and leads me over to a line of campers tossing a part of their food into the fire. We're supposed to say a prayer to our parents. I quickly pray to get 'claimed'. I have no idea what it means, but some of the kids at the Table keep talking about it. I sit back down and stare at my depleted plate. Oh well, at least there are refills of whatever I want! I can practically feel myself gaining ten pounds through my foodgasm.

Dinner ends, and Chiron beats his hoof on the marble floor. I can feel, rather than hear the whole room go quiet. Chiron's voice seems like surround sound when he booms "There will be a game of capture the flag tonight, on behalf of two new campers. The same rules apply as always. Killing and maiming is NOT allowed, even if you know they will heal!" Percy grinned over at me. I'm pretty sure that's an inside joke he has, but I have no idea what it means.

The Hermes cabin takes me over to the armory and Chris starts chatting. "So, do you already have a weapon? A magic item? Anything?"

"I have a sword, and this, shell, but I don't know exactly how if it's magic, but it's strange."

"Let me look then," I blew into the conch, and it made the loudest noise I had ever heard. Everyone in the armory with the exception of me was cowering at the sound. "Definitely magic and I have a good feeling about having you on our team." Someone else from the cabin shouted, "You just want to win Chris!" He sniggered and shouted back "Of course I do! And so do you, Connor!"

He turned back to me and said, "Let me look at that sword. Wouldn't want you to have one that isn't suited for you." I hand him the sword and he runs his hand over it, barely even coming into contact with the edge, and he got a really bad looking cut on one of his fingers. "Oh my gods, that's really sharp! This seems like a good blade for you." He carefully set the blade down on a work bench and started getting me armor.

After a half hour of trying to find armor to fit me, we were standing on opposite sides of a creek. There were two teams. Hermes (my host cabin), Athena, Apollo, and Poseidon. On the other side, there was Aphrodite, Ares, Dionysus, Demeter, and Hephaestus. Percy and I were assigned to border patrol. Hermes campers were scattered on our side, Apollo campers were placed near the flag to shoot any offense. When Percy heard this he snorted. I looked at him like he was crazy. Now I'm really confused, "Don't they attack us?"

"If they can get past the border!" he laughed. I pondered this as I stood guard. I had my sword strapped to my side, and on my other side, I had the conch in a pouch. I was covered in studded leather armor, with a breast plate, and knee guards, all topped off with a blue plumed helmet. I knew that if I had to run, I would be a goner.

A conch rang out to signal the start of the game. I expected a torrent of campers coming at us. Percy drew his sword, and, not wanting to be unprepared, I pulled out mine too. Finally I see a camper rush at the creek. Percy looks like he's in fight mode. He whispers to me, "this one's an Ares camper, they're tough as nails."

I don't exactly know what I'm doing, so I just go on instinct. I want to block them, but I know that with my slight frame, and only Percy here to help me, that was almost impossible. I felt a tug on my core, and I saw the creek start to rise up, but not as if it was moving but I was actually making more. I just went with it, and ignored the shocked and impressed look on my face. I knew it wouldn't stop them, so the second her head entered the water, I put my conch to my lips and blew. The girl, who had looked so strong and fierce only a moment ago, fell back and scrambled away, as if she had seen something terrible.

Percy looked at me like I was an alien "What did you do to Clarisse? I didn't hear anything, but she looked like she did when Silena died. I've never seen her so scared."

"I just blew into the conch. That's how I scared away the Ketos." He looked even more confused now.

"You scared away that giant serpent? Monsters don't get scared. Ever." He said gravely. By now the creek had gone back to normal. While I had been talking to Percy, I hadn't noticed the onslaught of campers rushing at us.

There was a blade sweeping at me before I could even register the thought. I jumped into attack mode, and realized that Percy was already there. He was sort of shielding me with his body, and I had no idea why. I jumped out from behind him, and started fighting. As soon as I touched the creek, I felt like I was filled with adrenaline. I was twirling and swiping right alongside Percy, and doing almost as much damage as him. I could feel myself get cut up, but that only seemed to goad me on, and make me fight harder.

Eventually, me and Percy were standing alone on our side of the creek, panting in front of a pile of unconscious campers. Before long the blond - Annabeth? – was leaping over the creek. She was carrying a red banner that turned silver was emblazoned with an owl.

I looked at Percy, and noticed that while his clothes and armor were in scraps, his skin was unharmed. I only now realized that I was bleeding pretty heavily. I felt light headed and fainted for a moment, and soon Percy was laying me in the creek, and I could feel my skin begin to mend, and I looked at my arm where I was sure that there was a gash, and all I could see was a pink scar.

I climbed out of the creek, and everyone was staring at me, completely shocked. I looked up, and there was a hologram the size of a computer screen. It showed a conch, and stormy sea being instantly calmed. Everyone was in a state of shock. All I could do was stare at my feet, because I had no idea what was going on.

Percy walked up and stared accusingly at me "You're not a child of Poseidon? But you have power over the water, and you look so similar!"

Chiron came up at this point to calm the gawking crowds and said as soothingly as he could muster "Let us continue this conversation inside. We have much to talk about." The rest of the campers took that as their cue to leave, and we were escorted to the big house by Chiron.

Once we were inside, Percy bombarded me with questions, almost like I had wronged him. "Who are you? Why are you here? Why do you have as much control over the water as me? Who is your parent?" He demanded answers to all of these questions and more, and rather than cower below his glower as I felt like doing, I brought myself up to my full height, at eye level with Percy and glared right back at him. He seemed surprised at this and his eyes widened in shock.

I glared at him and practically shrieked, "_**I have no idea why you're so angry at me for something that I know nothing about, and have no control over! This isn't your place to yell at me like I'm the reason for all of your problems!**_" He was cowering under my gaze, and trying not to look me in the eyes. I composed myself and turned to a wary looking Chiron and asked, "Now can I please get some answers?"

He calmed himself and responded, "When you came to camp, I was almost sure that you were related to Percy, because of your features, and you are, in a sense. I realize now that you aren't directly related to Percy. Your father is Triton, King of the Merpeople, and Messenger of the Sea. He is the son of Poseidon. One of the reasons that you are so similar, in your powers, and in your looks, is because you have many of the same qualities. She's just as powerful as you, but in a different way." I stared at Percy and reconsidered him.

He stared at me and I guess he was analyzing my features, and trying to find major differences in our features. I was too. His eyes were lighter and more light filled. His ears were more rounded, and his cheekbones weren't as sharp as mine. His nose was longer too. Chiron turned to Percy and dismissed him, because he needed to talk to me. He picked up my conch that lay on the table. "This is an ordinary shell. But it is special when used by you or your father. One of the other qualities of your father that I am certain you inherited is fear. One of his abilities was to blow into a conch, any conch, and strike fear into the hearts of his enemies. He could also use this to calm the seas. I think you have this ability. That conch is just a shell, but in your hands it can be used to create panic. I noticed that in your argument with Percy you actually struck fear into him. Percy is a proud hero. I have never seen him look so afraid as he was when you confronted him."

"I still have a few questions." He nodded. "I was told by some of the campers in the Hermes Cabin that powerful demigods are often attacked by monsters. And I've only been attacked by one monster."

"Only one? Or only one that you had encountered physically? Have you considered the possibility of an Eidolon?"

"A what?"

"Eidolon. A spirit that possesses a half-blood or a mortal. Have you ever been in a situation where someone around you acted unlike they normally would, and caused harm to themselves or others? They enjoy killing their hosts or others to cause pain to the half-blood's body, or a loved one of the half-blood." this forced me to recall my memories of Ali. I thought about it, and she was acting weird. I had chalked it up to a hangover, or being drunk, or in withdrawal. Now I had to consider it being something more, that some malevolent hand had been involved. Maybe it hadn't been my fault! I could feel the weight – that I didn't even know was there – get lifted off of my shoulders. I hadn't killed her. It wasn't my words that had driven the knife into her.

"I had a foster sister. Ali. We had an argument, and she took it way too seriously and stabbed herself to death. I barely said three sentences. And she was hardly unstable. There was no real explanation for why she died. I told the cops it was my fault. I don't know why, but I really did think I was to blame." He nodded and put a hand on my shoulder and handed me a tissue. I didn't realize until then, that my face was slick with tears, and my body was convulsing in silent sobs.

Chiron assigned me to a room in the big house, but I left to go to the beach. I needed to clear my head. All of this new information had compressed and gone off like a time bomb in my mind. Without thinking about a swim suit or anything else I dove into the sea. I swam down as far as I could until I was probably 300 feet deep, and 500 feet out. I could see much more than I should have been able to. And although the sea was cold, I didn't feel the chill of the water like I expected. I decided to keep swimming, and I closed my eyes for a minute and kept swimming blindly, and completely body checked something. I open my eyes, and there he is. Percy. I can hear his voice say _What are you doing here?_ But he doesn't open his mouth. I thought to myself, _**As if I have to explain myself to you**__._, and was startled to hear his response, _Actually you do!_ Oh crap, he can read my thoughts. Or I could read his. This needed to stop. I started to swim away, but felt pressure on my arm. _No don't go, I need to talk to you. I overreacted earlier. I shouldn't have treated you like that._ I shrugged out of his grasp and said (thought?) _**No you really shouldn't have.**_ And I swam away, still hearing his thoughts of anger (at himself) and frustration.

A.N. I'm not going to demand reviews, but I'm really glad to see that my story is trending in views. Thanks guys! I mean it. Every view is like a huge chocolate chip cookie for my self esteem. Delicious.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I haven't updated in a long time, so I'm going to make this chapter really long. I've decided that I'm going to make this story compliant with Heroes of Olympus, because personally I wondered what was going on at camp the whole time the quests were happening.

o~O~o

I can't believe him! Who does that kind of thing? He of all people should know that I feel confused and alone. What is his problem. It's like he was mad at me because I'm not related to him. Screw that. I swam back to shore and found myself fairly dry. That's still weird. As I stormed away from the shore, I could feel tension building in the air. The clouds over the sea grew dark, and the waves became high and chop. A sailors nightmare. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and willed the sea to calm. It didn't. Well not completely. The waves lowered, and the sea all but stilled, and yet there remained he dark ominous clouds.

As I made my way up the hill to the big house, I was stopped by that blonde girl. Anne... Something. Now I know now that it wasn't rational, but at that point, I saw red and stormed up to her and glared. "Your boyfriend has some nerve! There was absolutely no reason for him to interrogate me like that! I'm new and confused, and he has the gall to be angry with me over something that I know nothing about, and have no control over! What is wrong with him?" I finished panting with what felt like exhaustion. But a feeling of relief washed over me, and I collapsed to my knees, with my face in my hands. I don't know what's wrong with me. I used to have some self control, but apparently not anymore. I pulled my hands away and the were wet. Oh God, er... gods... I can't believe it. I don't cry, not anymore. I promised I wouldn't cry...

While in my own personal melt down, I hadn't noticed that Anne- something had kneeled before me and was looking at me with something like concern mixed with understanding. I really should learn her name. I feel kind of bad because I normally remember names... Oh well, I'll ask later.

"Do you need to talk about it? I get what you're going through. And Percy is hard to deal with sometimes. I would know," she chuckled. "Let's go somewhere else to vent, yeah?" She led me away to to the big to big house, staring down anyone that gave so much as an odd glance.

She seemed to know the camp like the back of her hand. She led me through the big house until she found a room in the back. Inside was a large floor to ceiling. The first thing I noticed was that I could read the book titles. I cocked my head to the side. I'm severely dyslexic. I've never read anything and understood it in my life. I wandered up to one of the hundreds of shelves. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, to name a few. Before I could ask, she explained. "After the war, I was given the opportunity to redesign, and Chiron gave me a chance to redo the house. I've had many popular and important texts and books translated into greek, and transported here. I learned from my time as a child, that some demigods feel inadequate, because they can't really read or understand popular or necessary texts. If you give them the opportunity, you'd be surprised how many of us that were labelled as 'lazy' actually read." I think she got all of that out in like three breaths. That should be some kind of record. "But enough about me and my accomplishments. We need to talk about you." She lead me over to a plush velvet armchair, and took the leather one across from it.

o~O~o

It took me nearly an hour, but I told her. Everything. A few times I was crying so hard that I had to retell about five minutes of what I had said. About half of the way through, she had moved to the wide love seat I was sitting on because I was sobbing so hard. She was what I needed. I needed to be held. I needed to know that I wasn't alone.

When I finished the story, she told me hers. I don't know if it was a trust thing, a story for a story, or maybe she just needed to vent too.

(A/N: I'm going to be the narrator for a bit, as a third person that knows her thoughts)

Her mother is Athena. When she was young, her father married. She was nice enough, but she didn't understand. She never helped when Annabeth begged, never told her father about the horrible spider bites, or the monsters. Her father was always at work, so she couldn't tell him anything. Eventually her stepmother made her feel so alone that she ran away. She was on her own for a month. And then she found Luke and Thalia. They took care of her. The loved her. They were her family. They were together for a long time. Then they found Grover and he was with them until Thalia's final stand at half blood hill. She talked about what it felt like to lose a friend as a child. But here weren't many words to use. To those of you who have never experienced it, it cans do a lot of damage to your psyche. Here isn't a way to describe it. But if you had to, honk about it. A child's mind is a very fragile thing. To lose an important part of your life so young leaves deep scars. Loss is different for a child. It leaves your hear closed off, and very guarded. It makes it almost impossible to love or be loved. So she spent 5 years hardening and training her body to match her heart. She almost succeeded. But then she met a very powerful, annoying boy. He drooled and talked while he slept. He acted like he had an answer to everything, even if he didn't know it. A girl as smart as she was should be able to figure him out. But no, he was the enigma that plagued her existence. She went on a quest with him soon after meeting him. You wouldn't believe how many arguments they had. He had to be the most irking individual that she had ever met. But under that he was sweet. Well as sweet as a 12 year old boy could be. He asked about her father. Her life. She had never talked to anyone about that. When they finished their quest, he was hailed as a hero, but he was just... Seaweed Brain. She didn't see him for the whole school year after that. Near he end of that year, she tracked some giants to his school, and saved his butt. She dragged him back to camp, and they snuck out for an unauthorized quest with his Cyclops. They travelled to retrieve Grover and Clarisse from an evil Cyclops. But on the way there, they ran into sirens. She was going to swim to them and probably die. But he saved her. He brought her down into the ocean into an air bubble, and let her cry. He held her. When she saw him again, they were saving a few demigods. They were at a boarding school. And *lucky* them. It fell on a school dance. So she and Percy got shoved together, and were forced to dance. It was really awkward, but he started asking her about how things were. They continued to dance and she found it oddly comforting. She felt her face go warm and turned away. She looked over and saw the half bloods being dragged away. They went after them, and Annabeth was captured. They spent months looking for her. The whole times he was with Luke, the only thing she could think was 'Percy save me!'. In hindsight she knew that there was a reason. She liked him. But gods forbid she realize and accept that. They held the weight of the world together. Literally. They came away with matching strands of grey hair.

It was summer again, and she was excited. After Percy finished his school tour, they were going to a movie. But it wasn't it a date. Not at all. They were just going as friends. That didn't explain why she had done her hair four times before settling on one style. Or why she picked out her favorite pair of jeans. Ok so maybe she liked him a little. Or a lot. Either way... As she walked up tithe school, there was one big problem. It was on fire. And out of the flames ran Percy and a pretty redhead. She was writing on his hand and telling him to 'call her'. What the hell? She ran off and I dragged him away so that he couldn't get in more trouble. When we got back to camp, hey big surprise, there was another quest. We were sent into the labyrinth and we were down there for a long time. Eventually, we were sent to one of Hephaestus's forges. I had this feeling that something bad was going to happen... So I did something stupid. I kissed him. And then I ran off to kill some monsters... But to be honest the most exhilarating thing was probably the kiss... If only because of the adrenalin and the fact that my face had a new semipermanent color... Red. So there was an explosion. And Percy was no where to be found. Somehow, that hit me much harder than I expected it to. I couldn't breath, I was devastated. So imagine my utter confusion, and well, rage, when during his own funeral, two weeks later he shows up. I walk up to him and I'm pretty sure I'm going to kill him, or at the very least slap him, but at the las moment I throw myself into his arms. I'm pretty sure I did actually hurt him, so the hug was cancelled out. When he told his story, he kept bringing up an island. I'm almost certain he went to Ogygia, you know, the place where the beautiful calypso lives. The titaness who tempts you to fall in love with her and never leave. So I think I'm allowed to be a little jealous. And then I find out that we have to go to the stupid redhead for help. I'm allowed to be at lot pissed at Percy now. Perfectly acceptable. So we (Rachel, Percy, Grover, Tyson, and I) go through the labyrinth and I get to see Rachel and Percy make googly eyes at each other... Eventually Rachel led us out of the maze and into a palace. It held a coffin. Percy said that it was Luke. That he gave his body to Kronos. They fought in the battle of the labyrinth and won. The next summer there was an attack on New York. Percy had taken on the curse of Achilles. It made him invulnerable. They were a few days into the battle, and Percy and Annabeth were fighting an old acquaintance and Kronos. The half blood we were fighting took a poisoned blade, and was about to stab Percy. She took the hit for him, and She found out that it would have hit his 'Achilles heel'. Well long story short, they won. They kissed on his birthday twice and started officially dating. They've been dating for about three months. And She was finally happy.

So finally after their whole story was told, Annabeth looked up with tears streaming down her face and suddenly realized, oh! She's still here... And I've just told her everything.

"And for the first time, I'm really happy. He's an idiot. But he's my idiot. And I've got to say, I think I might just... Maybe... Have fallen... In love with him. I know that I've been falling for a while, but I know now. And I want to tell him, but I'm so afraid that he might say he doesn't love me back. Or that he won't say anything!" Her speech had become more erratic and hysterical. She must really care about him. "And most of all, I'm so afraid that he'll say that he does love me, because, it will be so much more serious then. And then there will be no going back." She finished with a dramatic heart heavy sigh.

"I think you should tell him. You have no idea how long you may have together. And you'll never know until you tell him." I replied gently.

"I think I will... Tell him, that is. You're right. If I love him, I shouldn't have to wait."

At that moment Chris burst into the room. "Annabeth! We've been looking for you everywhere! I need to Tell you something." His face was grim. I knew it couldn't have been good.

Unfortunately Annabeth was still love struck and staring at her lap where she was fiddling with her camp necklace, apparently absorbed in memories. She lazily responded, "What is it? I'm kind of busy here."

"Annabeth! This is important!" He took a deep calming breath and said "It's Percy.." With that her head whipped up so fast that I was sure she would get whiplash. "Percy... He's missing."

o~O~o

(A/N: you know, I'd feel a little cold hearted about the cliff hanger, but honestly it's the start of the story and people don't review so... Ha! No! Not an ounce of bad feeling.)

P. s. almighty god of fanfiction, I give thee this offering in exchange for reviews!


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